Finishing touches being applied ahead of milestone Cedar Market season

Poirier said the market’s early days saw a handful of vendors gather at the Crow and Gate Pub to sell their goods.

Over recent years, the problem facing the market is a lack of space as record crowds continue to flock and interest from vendors exceeds what organizers can physically have on the property.

It creates a logjam for registrations and some tough decision-making.

“We do a lot of drop-in bookings, so one day here and there. We especially like to look for new types of products that we haven’t seen before, especially when it comes to food or farm items, as we are a food and farm primary farmers market. We do add people through the summer as well slowly, as many people as we can fit and no more than that, I would say.”

Opening weekend last year drew a record crowd of around 3,500 people, while well over 10,000 shoppers attended in the first month of last season.

Focus since emergence from the pandemic, when more people took an active interest in local food security and consuming products produced close to home, has been on ready-made food at the market.

Poirier told NanaimoNewsNOW they aim to provide a fun, full-day event where people can not only gather what they want for the week but also enjoy a day out with fresh items to choose from stalls and food trucks.

“A destination event where you can sit down and enjoy a nice lunch or breakfast and take in the music. Just being a free access event is really important to us, as we don’t have a lot of community spaces to go to, especially in the south end and in the rural areas towards Cedar.”

Poirier said she’s also seeing more meal kits and pre-prepared fresh meals such as soup and noodle bases in recent years.

A dedicated celebration of the 30th anniversary is planned for June 28.

The Cedar Farmers Market runs every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Woobank Rd., between Mother’s Day and the Sunday before Halloween.

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by Alex Rawnsley

Finishing touches being applied ahead of milestone Cedar Market season

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